Concrete form securing means



Sept. 13, 1960 H. E. ALLEN CONCRETE FORM SECURING MEANS Filed Feb. 17, 1958 INVENTOR. HOMER EDGAR ALLEN United States PatentO CONCRETE FORM SECURING MEANS Homer E. Allen, Bellevue, Wash. (661 S. 14th St., San Jose, Calif.)

. Filed Feb. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 715,772 3 Claims. (Cl. 25-131) This invention relates to the general art of tie rods used in positioning two individual form walls and preventing .the walls from spreading when the forms are filled with semi-fluid concrete. More particularly, this invention relates to means for supporting headed tie rods concentrically with the holes bored in the form walls and through which the heads of the tie rods are passed.

As various forms of building which use concrete walls, atleast in part, become more competitive there is an ever increasing demand for devices which will reduce the cost of building the forms used in the construction of concrete walls. In the past many forms of ties have been used in spacing the concrete form walls the desired distance apart so that the finished wall will have the thickness required and no more. .Formerly it was customary to space the .walls apart with wooden blocks and to keep them from spreading apart when the concrete was poured in the forms by passing heavy wires through the walls which were twisted in between the form walls so as to tighten them and bring the outside walls in close engagement with the wooden blocks previously placed. This proved to be one of the most expensive ways in which this could 'be achieved as the wood blocks had to be retrieved successively as the level of the concrete rose in the walls; otherwise they would have formed holes clear through the wall. Later many forms of rod arrangements were devised with bosses or washers secured to them so as to space the walls of the forms apart and then with nuts or other devices on the outside of the walls, to hold the walls inwardly to their desired spacing. These devices served quite well but resulted in considerable loss of the form lumber asthe forms were being removed. In the past, when shiplap material was normally used, this was not a matter of great moment but increased efficiency led to "the use of plywood in relatively quite large panels and it formerly used, and which does permit salvage of the form material usually on a hundred percent basis. -This pres- 'ent equipment is partly shown in my former and co-pend- "ing application Ser. No. 677,253 filed August 9, 1957 and this present application is a continuation in part of this former application. Y

The principal object of this present invention is to provide meansfor securing the supporting framework of concrete form panels in place with a minimum of equipment; and-to have the equipment so arranged that, with the exception of the tie rods themselves, the balance of the materials are completely salvageable.

, A further object of this invention is to provide posijjtioning means for the concrete form tie rods which will position them concentrically with the holes bored in the concrete panels, to the end that when the forms are being removed the heads of the ties will pass freely through the bored holes in the plywood forms as the forms are removed from the finished walls.

A further object of this invention is to provide support means for the tie rods so that as they are disposed in the aligned openings in the two spaced wall forms, the tie rods themselves will be in a position to support the brackets, which in turn carry the horizontally disposed Whalers that form the back bone of the supporting means for the plywood form panels.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the employment of concrete form materials, and showing one Wall as used in the concrete form, together with the vertical studding members, the horizontal Whaler members and the metal brackets which support the Whalers in operational position.

Figure 2 is a typical vertical sectional view taken through one of the tie rods and showing the relative positions of the concrete wall, the wall forms, the studding, the Whalers and the metal brackets supporting the Whalers.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view taken as a vertical section after the showing of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view, in fragmentary form, showing the tie rod and its supporting means, after the Whaler bracket has been removed from the same and the forms are being withdrawn from contact with the concrete wall.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 show alternate forms of positioning means that have special adaptation to difierent thicknesses of form walls and which take care of various loading that may be placed upon the tie rods as a support for Whaler brackets.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a typical sheet of plywood forming a portion of one of the form walls.

'Normally two walls are formed of plywood after the showing of Figure 2. Generally the plywood is used in minimum sizes of four by eight feet, and even though it is customary to use the heavier weights of plywood, they still may spring outwardly when the concrete mass is poured in the wall form and tamped in place, especially 'when tamped with electric vibrators and the like.

In order to give the plywood panels adequate support, especially at the vertical joints, vertically disposed studding members 12 are employed and the studding members are largely held in place and additionally supported by horizontally disposed Whaler members. The two separate form walls are spaced apart by tie rods 14 and are also held from springing apart when the concrete is poured in the forms by these same tie rods. The number of tie rods employed in a Wall varies with several factors, among which are the thickness of the plywood used and the adequacy of the backing or supporting frame work of studding and Whalers as well as by the thickness of the wall which of course determines the weight of concrete that must be retained in place until it changes from its fluid state to its firm or set state. Experience has indicated that it is very desirable to use heavy weight plywood, and since this type of material is expensive it is very desirable that it be saved for re-use at many future times. This requirement indicates the desirability of boring a plurality of uniformly spaced openings 16 through the plywood. These must be uniformly spaced so that the openings in the two enclosing walls of the form can be aligned and a single tie rod 14 passed through them to hold them in proper spaced relationship.

In order to provide a simple and uniform manner of engaging the ends of the tie rods 14 I have employed integral heads permanently secured to them and these are adapted to be engaged by bayonet-type openings 18 in metal bracket member 20. Bracket member 20 is made of metal of sufficient weight to be rigid and thereby avoid bending under applied load and the bracket member is formed with a first upturned inner end 20 and a second upturned opposite end 20". This arrangement forms a very good anchoring and positioning means for the tie rods and Spreads the applied tension over a relatively large area of the plywood so that it is not distorted or damaged and can therefore be salvaged for subsequent re-use.

My improved tie rod consists of rod stock, having a relatively high tensile strength and this is provided at each end with fixed button-like integral heads 22 each having an inside hearing surface. The bayonet slot 18 in the first end 20' of bracket 20 is provided with a lower portion with an opening large enough to just conveniently accept and pass these heads, and with an upper portion that is just a convenient working fit on the body portion of the rod stock. It is to be noted, particularly in Figure 2, that the first end of bracket 20 is considerably shorter than its horizontal portion to provide a short stiff end, that, with the horizontal portion, will constitute a lever adapted to apply tension to tie rod 14 when in use with a Whaler in place. Adapted to be disposed inside of the forms and fixedly secured to the rods 14, as by welding at 24, are substantial washers 26. The outer faces of washers 26 lie against the inner face 28 of the plywood Wall stock and when a group of rods are used, serve to definitely space the walls the desired distance apart. Said washers are disposed concentrically on the tie rods and will bear equally on the plywood walls around the openings 16. Disposed intermediate washers 26 are flattened portions 30 formed in the tie rods 14 and these serve as breaking points for the rods after their period of use has passed and the plywood form materials have been removed from the set walls.

In order that the plywood material can be readily salvaged after its period of use has been completed it is' desirable that the through-opening 16 bored in the plywood panels be large enough to just conveniently pass the headed portions 22. As will be noted in Figures 2, 3 and 4 this means that the holes 16 are considerably larger than the body portion of rods 14; consequently there is a marked tendency for the weight of the brackets20 and the Whalers 32 seated on the horizontal portion of the brackets to force the rods downwardly at the time the forms are being erected. If this is allowed to happen when the concrete is poured the head 22 will overlie the bottom margain of the hole in the plywood and it will not be possible to pull the plywood form material away from the finished wall. To overcome this condition I provide positioning means between washers 26 and heads 22 which will be of substantially the same diameter as heads 22 and will thus engage the walls 16 and support rods 14 concentrically therein assuring that the form lumber can be moved away from the wall without in any way disfiguring or damaging it for further use. When the downward movement of the rod is arrested by the positioning means as 34, 36, 38 or 4%, the weight of the Whaler causes bracket 20 to act as a lever pivoting about fulcrum 21. This action tetlidiiio further secure the bracket in place and tension ro These positioning members may take on various forms. In Figure 3 there has been illustrated a second head on rod 14 as indicated at 34. This gives a construction very similar to that of the double-headed scaffold nail. Although this lends itself to economical manufacture the machine equipment normally cannot be conveniently arranged to make the heads 34 and 22 of different widths and frequently this is necessary to provide sufiicient bearing surface to support the weight imposed on it. As a solution of this problem I have provided additional forms of the positioning means and these have been illustrated at 36 in Figure 5, 38 in Figure 6 and 40 in Figure 7. In Figure 5 a convenient form is to use two or more washers 36 and this gives enough spread along the tie rod so that there will always be sulficient area engaged in hole 16 to adequately support rod 14 concentrically. A bushing arrangement has been shown at 38 which may be any reasonable length as long as it does not interfere with the attachment of bracket 20 which must engage inside of head 22 after the showing of Figures 2 and 3. Washers 36 and bushing 38 may be made of any suitable material such as wood, plastic or metal. In Figure 7 I have illustrated a form that is often quite convenient in that it is made with a plurality of longitudinally extending fins 42 which do not fully complete a circle but admit of an opening 44 permitting this form of unit to be conveniently slipped over tie rod 14 even after head 22 and washer 26 are fixedly formed in place. It is believed apparent that washers 36 and bushing 38 must be placed on rod 14 during the manufacture of the rod;

When the concrete C has been poured and sufficient time has expired so that the wall is set to the degree that it is safely self supporting, it is normal to remove Whalers 32 which may require pulling staging nails that may have been driven into openings 48. This is indicated at 50 in Figure 2. With the Whalers removed, brackets 20 are tapped upwardly so that the large portion of opening 18 is in position to be withdrawn over the head 22 of the tie rod. With the removal of the brackets and Whalers the studding units 12, if they have not been prefabricated as part of panels 10, are then removed and panels 10 are then free to be moved outwardly away from the wall and passed over the heads 22 of rods 14. The ends of rods 14 are then left well exposed and can be engaged by a breaking tool, close to the wall thus insuring a clean controlled breaking that will leave the wall in excellent condition.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of support and positioning means for concrete form tie rods.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A positioning and tensioning means for concrete wall form tie rods, comprising: a concrete Wall form having spaced apart wells with openings formed there-,

in; a rigid metal bracket having a substantially horizontal central portion and upturned ends each of which are shorter than said central portion; a metal tie rod having a rod portion and ends formed as integral heads providing an inside bearing surface for use in positioning the outside wall surface of said concrete wall form; a pair of spacing washers fixedly secured in spaced relationship on the tie rod and disposed to bear against and space the interior wall surfaces of said concrete wall form; said integral heads being dimensioned to pass through said openings in said wall forms; said spacing washers having sufficiently greater diameter than the said heads to provide annular bearing surfaces on the inside surface of the wall forms, around said openings; positioning means having an outside diameter substantially the same as said integral heads and disposed on said tie rod between the integral heads and the adjacent washers to center said tie rod in said openings in said wall forms; a first end of said bracket having a bayonet opening receiving said integral head and testing on the rod portion of said concrete form tie rod and in contact with the outer face of said concrete wall form, and an opposite end coacting with said horizontal portion to form a Whaler retaining means.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which a fulcrum is provided at the junction of said first end and the horizontal portion of said bracket; and said bracket providing a lever when bearing on the outer face of said Wall .form, which permits the weight of the Whaler to tension said tie rod when the Whaler is placed on said bracket and the bracket and Whaler pivot on said fulcnum.

3. A concrete wall form securing means for spaced apart wall forms made of plywood panels, comprising: a pair of spaced apart plywood panels having openin gs formed therein, the openings in the respective panels being aligned; a metal tie rod extending through said aligned openings having its ends formed as integnal heads, said heads having a circular periphery coaxially aligned with said tie rod and presenting a flat inside bearing surface bearing against the outside surfaces of said plywood panels; a pair of spaced washers fixedly secured to the tie rod and disposed to bear against and space the interior wall surfaces of said plywood panels; said heads passing through said aligned openings in said plywood panels; tie rod positioning members having an outside diameter substantially the same as the integral rod heads coaxially disposed on said tie rod between the integral heads and the adjacent washers to center said tie rod in said openings in said plywood panels and lever means for tensioning said tie rods when they are in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

